


Together In Electric Dreams

by ReverseMousetrap



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: College era, Light Angst, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Sexual References, gayperion, rating to be safe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 04:36:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17481305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReverseMousetrap/pseuds/ReverseMousetrap
Summary: Just because Vaughn has a dirty dream about his best friend, it doesn't mean he's in love with him.Right?





	Together In Electric Dreams

Vaughn doesn't remember how he got to this party or whose gaudy, oversized apartment this is - and somehow it doesn't bother him much, even though he vaguely knows he'll have to drive home and right now he feels way more than two-beers drunk. Rhys, he thinks. Rhys will know.

His mind accepts that as his all-consuming goal: to find his best friend.

He slips through a crowd of indistinct faces, bodies parting like the ocean to let him through and closing behind him just as smoothly. Normally he’d be sweating and shaking, knowing he could be anywhere on the endless floor, and yet for once he doesn't panic.

And then there's Rhys, glowing like he's in a spotlight, smiling at Vaughn for a moment before dragging him into another room. A dark room.

A small closet where it's just the two of them, and the confusing floor plan is suddenly way less interesting than the way Rhys is pressed up against him in a kiss that feels less like human touch and more like an injection of tingling warmth directly into his veins. For a moment he's shocked; kissing his best friend is not something that’s ever been on his to-do list or even on his radar, but Rhys is apparently super into it and honestly, it feels good.

Like, _really_ fucking good.

Vaughn has never been kissed, at least not properly - fumbling behind the bleachers with another hopeless nerd doesn’t count - and it's exactly how he hoped it would be when the day finally arrived: hot, insistent and blocking out everything else as it floods his senses. Like in Rhys’ crappy novels that he pretends not to borrow. The heat blooms in his chest and steals through his belly and he can't help but moan a bit as the sensation reaches his dick. He knows he should feel guilty about that, and he tries to peel himself away ever so slightly, but he can't because Rhys is pulling him closer with one arm and reaching down with the other and it's almost too much to take and -

He wakes up breathless with his face shoved into the pillow and his hard-on attempting to do obscene things to the mattress.

“Ugh...fuck.”

Stealing a glance across the room, he sees his best friend unconscious and sprawled out like a starfish on the other bed, and he hopes he didn't make any suspicious sounds out loud.

Taking care of business isn't an option and anyway he'd feel kind of creepy given the inspiration, so he grabs his most boring textbook and heads to the tiny plastic dining table they rescued from a dumpster, trying to ignore the demands for attention from downstairs.

At least he’s already aware he likes guys. He can skip the crisis of sexuality that plagues their peers with vivid imaginations and glaring insecurities. But Rhys is just a friend. No, that's not fair: Rhys is the best friend he's ever had. He treats Vaughn like an equal, even though everyone else can see they exist in completely different leagues. And Vaughn adores him, but only in the most platonic way. They're _bros._ Bros don't make out; it'd be weird.

It's not like he doesn't see that Rhys is attractive. People can see that from space. He's got the cheekbones of a catwalk model and the legs to match. He’s got warm brown eyes that sparkle when he gets excited. He's got that tattoo on his neck that Vaughn warned him against but ended up giving him a little edge. He's got those lips that look invitingly soft...

Vaughn realises he's read the same paragraph five times and his dick is still misbehaving. He shakes his head and figures he probably just needs to get laid. By someone who is _not_ his hot best friend.

Maybe it's time to use that gym membership.

He turns the page, wraps himself up in derivatives and depreciation like a comforting blanket, and doesn't hear it when his roommate comes back from the shower.

“Morning,” Rhys says cheerfully, petting him on the shoulder, and he almost jumps out of his skin. Adjusting his glasses, Vaughn looks up at Rhys with a hastily applied expression of normalcy.

His friend is wearing a towel slung low across his body, revealing the delicate lines of his hipbones and a thin trail of hair just below his navel. Vaughn sometimes wonders how he doesn't break apart the moment anyone touches him, but his tall, slender body seems to make it through life without a scratch. A stray drop of water slides down Rhys’ chest, falling from where his wet hair is slicked back.

Purely artistic appreciation, Vaughn thinks to himself stubbornly before his dick can attempt to pull more of its bullshit.

“Morning,” he answers at last.

“Even you don't normally study before noon,” teases Rhys. “They're working you too hard.”

He offers Vaughn their little conspiratorial grin, and it's just as effective as the megawatt smile he charms the world with. They're a conspiracy of two. Vaughn's always liked that.

“I didn't sleep so great,” he says cautiously. “Figured I'd at least do something useful.”

“Oh. I don't snore or anything, do I?”

“No, no - it's nothing to do with you.” Well, that’s the lie of the century, he thinks to himself. It's certainly not Rhys’ _fault,_ but that just makes it harder to figure out where to direct his annoyance.

“Mmm. I was gonna sleep in today, but I kept on having weird dreams.” Rhys pinches the bridge of his nose and rubs his eyes.

“Yeah, me too.” The words come out without thinking and he immediately feels a familiar nervous dread steal along his limbs. Keep it together, he thinks. Rhys can't read minds. All the same, Vaughn can't help but see a tiny twitch of interest in his friend's eyebrow.

“Anything good?” Rhys laughs and sits on the other side of the table. “Oooh, we could psychoanalyse each other.”

“I - uh - you know what? I've already forgotten.” He shrugs in apology and tries to stop his leg from bouncing at a hundred miles an hour. He risks a glance downwards. At least his boner has packed up and gone home. Small mercies.

Rhys looks...disappointed, but he covers it up quickly and looks over at the window. “Well, breakfast?” he asks hopefully.

“Sure.” Vaughn glances at his chest once more and tries not to admire it. “You'll probably need to put a shirt on.”

He puts on his best whiny voice and sticks out his lower lip. “I don't wanna.”

"I'll buy you waffles,” says Vaughn.

“Man, I love you, bro.” Rhys winks, and something inside Vaughn's brain finally gives way.

All these years he's never been in love. He's mooned over rock stars and stared at professors from the back row, but he's never felt this: a moment of stepping off the edge and falling without a parachute. You'll know it when it happens, someone once told him, because everything will make sense.

But nothing makes sense. This isn't supposed to happen. They're just friends and it was just a stupid dream.

“Vaughn?”

He blinks. The world has shifted and Rhys is still sitting there, peaceful and oblivious and perfect.

“It's nothing,” he says, his mouth dry. “Let's go.”

**Author's Note:**

> _"We'll always be together, however far it seems..."_
> 
> I'm an eternal sucker for college Gayperion. Don't worry, they end up together in every continuity. XD


End file.
